I sat alone in the bathing pool in silence.

The loss of my sword still cut deep, as deep as I’d hoped it’s edge would have cut while whole. I sat underneath a spout carved above the large pool and let the soothing water flowing from it spill over my body and wash my thoughts away. As I sat in the waist deep pool and allowed myself to be mired in my thoughts, I pathetically started to sob.

Despite the Goddess’ claims the last time we spoke, things hadn’t gotten easier. Quite the opposite, they had instead gotten harder. And yes, while she hadn’t explicitly claimed our mission would get easier, the confidence boost she gave me and the new friends I gained from it felt like I had turned a corner.

I felt further progress when I had won the tournament. I bested my tutors, despite the odds they’d stacked in their favor. The women in town enjoyed the moment of success like it was their own, defeating men in armed combat. Noelle gained the tavern despite not winning the tournament, another triumph in my efforts to help womankind. Slowly, but surely, I had been making a difference. And then, we had left Bronzemead, and I was hit with the stark reality of how small my sphere of influence truly was.

The closer we had gotten to Torzoa, the worse Chad’s mood had become. He started treating me less like a companion and more like a woman from this world again. Dorian also started drifting. His attitude and swagger started to wane the closer we got to the capital. I had a feeling this was a place he would also rather not be, and he had become very distracted and distant of late.

For his part, Ash had been the only constant. He stayed close and made sure I felt comfortable as best he could. His confidence was growing, and he could now look me in the eye for more than the few fleeting seconds he could muster when we first met. But he still struggled with generic small talk, so our conversations were always sadly brief.

As a result, despite my traveling companions, I felt very alone. Noelle had been a fierce and fast friend, and I was very sad that she couldn’t accompany us. Any time I had been homesick, she would plop down and talk with me for hours of my home. She would sit, enraptured, while I described city life, or school, or technology beyond her understanding. She would let me ramble on and on, even if it wasn’t something she understood or there was nothing she could add to the conversation. She was happy just to listen, with wild awestruck eyes and a smile on her face. Missing her now, more than ever, I looked up and wondered what she was doing at that very moment.

I finally stopped feeling sorry for myself enough to wash up and climb out of the pool to dry myself and dress. I brushed out my hair and watched as it lightly fell and draped around me. One of my early new body revelations was that my hair dried extremely quickly, and I was thankful to the Goddess for that little perk. The absurd length of time it took for long hair to dry was another reason I always wore it short back on Earth.

I smiled as I continued to brush my hair and remembered how upset Noelle and the sisters had been at this discovery. Each of them also wore their hair extremely long, some of them longer than mine, and they constantly complained about the hours it took for their hair to properly dry. I sighed as I finished brushing, missing all the girls, especially my little shadow, Anya, who I had grown rather fond of. I made a mental note to ask Chad if we could detour to Bronzemead to check in on everyone once our business in Blackwall and the Black Hills was concluded.

I had been provided a sleeveless dress to wear while my clothes were being cleaned. Duncan had worked some castle connection shenanigans and managed to have something sewn together that fit my dimensions perfectly. It was a light lavender colored silk dress that hugged my features snuggly, with a plunging neckline that would show off and call attention to all my curves.

It had a pattern of gold outlined embroidered leaves falling across it, with an occasional leaf filled in. I slipped it on without much difficulty and found it was the softest material I had ever worn. It fell to my ankles but had a long slit that exposed my left leg, all the way to my thigh.

The dress had thin straps which rested on my shoulders, and the dress was backless, exposing even more skin to the casual observer. Fortunately, most of my back was covered by my hair. I took advantage of a full-length mirror to take in how I looked in this new outfit. It was very beautiful, and I was equally stunning, but I knew I lacked the confidence to wear it in public. Just thinking of the boys ogling me in this filled me with a sense of dread and embarrassment, but my other clothes had already been absconded with and it was either this or nothing.

I chose the dress.

I noticed that a very beautiful decorative metal hairpin had been left for me to wear in my hair, along with a note:

This comb is one of Mother’s favorites. I told her about you, and she wanted you to have it. I have a feeling she already thinks of you as a daughter and would love to meet you.

- Max

P.S. I guess Chadwick would also love to see you wear it.

The piece was, indeed, beautiful. But now knowing it was a gift from the queen?!

That Max!

On one hand, he seemed to imply all he wanted was a friendship, only to let the mask slip at just the right moment and leave me blushing uncontrollably. He was a shifty one and I would have to keep a close eye on him.

The hairpin had a beautifully sculpted lily at its head, with intricate white petals and golden stamens erupting from it. I brushed aside the hair from the side of my face pinned it behind my right ear.

I twisted at my waist to look at my barely covered backside and was secretly glad cameras didn’t exist in this world.

I took one last look at myself in the mirror and sighed.

Might as well get this over with.

The boys were going to love this.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I exited the baths that Duncan and his guards had cordoned off for me. I had made it clear I wanted privacy, and he assigned his best men to ensure I got it. The boys were all waiting out in the hallway, Max included, for our trip to Obarith’s temple on the peak. Despite Dorian’s claim we could use its absurdity to cheer me up, I really was not in the mood to go. However, Chad’s mood had lightened considerably at the mention of the trip, and my stupid feelings wouldn’t allow me to back out.

Speaking of feelings, from the look on everyone’s faces, I was sure I evoked quite a few choice ones from my appearance. Chad and Max completely forgot about an argument they were the middle of and stared, eyes as wide as dinner plates and mouths almost hitting the floor. Ash turned a deep shade of red and took a long look at me before finally tearing his eyes away bashfully, and I could have sworn Dorian was drooling and was muttering gibberish, having lost the capacity for intelligent thought.

I really really wanted to take advantage of the moment and relish the attention. An ego boost right now would have done me wonders. I played through a moment in my head where I put a hand on one of my luscious hips and swayed them, in perfect synchronization, on my way over to the bumbling males. Then I would pick one of them at random, probably Max, and tickle him under his chin, smiling provocatively at him while the other boys turned green with envy.

Instead, thinking about doing something like that caused my stomach to flip over on itself three times, and I fought every urge to not run and hide under the first table I could find. I slowly walked over to them, barely able to control my breathing, hiding my blushing face with one hand and my heaving chest with the other as I wished my hips would stop moving so seductively with each small step.

Damn, this dress! Duncan knew what he was doing.

“Hi, guys.” I was able to get out, in a voice barely over a whisper. I kept a hand on the side of my face, hiding from them and avoiding embarrassing eye contact. This was much harder than I thought it would be.

Dorian acted first. He immediately grabbed my upraised hand and wound my bare arm around the crook of his own. He gave me the biggest grin ever, as if he had won a prize, and started sauntering us towards the grand hall and castle exit.

Chad and Max weren’t too far behind, pushing and shoving each other to claim my remaining arm. Their squabbling allowed Ash to sneak in and beat them to the punch. I smiled a bit to myself at his unexpected cunning. He still didn’t have the nerve to look me in the eye as we walked, but he, too, had a smile on his face as he and Dorian escorted me towards the castle exit where Duncan was awaiting us.

“I see you found the gift your Highness left for you. He requested I find something comfortable for you to wear while the rest of your clothes were being cleaned.” He bowed, “I hope it is to your liking.”

I didn’t press for him to specify which brother requested that I wear something so daring, but I wasn’t putting anything past Max at this point.

Not old enough to be courting yet, my ass!

Instead, I merely thanked him, and my mystery prince, for the gift. “Thank you for your attention to detail, Duncan. The dress is stunning, and I am pleasantly surprised at how well it fits.” I hesitated a moment before adding, “Some of it fits a little too well.”

Duncan smiled sweetly, “Such is the price of a body that demands attention, my lady.”

I suppose he was right. If looks could kill, I would be guilty of wholesale man slaughter. To avoid flaunting my dazzling looks, I would have had to dress in bulky layers, and I’m still not sure that would have helped much.

I allowed Dorian and Ash to continue to escort me outside and we made our way to the trail that wound up the mountain and the temple at its peak. Chad and Max were not far behind. I suppose they decided the view from the rear was an acceptable consolation prize.

Duncan stopped at the foot of the trail and did not continue the climb with us. Chad explained that only royalty were allowed to visit or worship at Obarith’s main temple. Chad and the guards were making exceptions for Dorian, as an heir to the Ptarkin House. Ash and Amelia were being considered women escorts for the princes, and no guards dared question the reasoning behind it. Ash shrugged at the explanation, “Whatever works sometimes,” and I giggled to myself, imagining him trying to pull off this ridiculous dress.

The trail wasn’t difficult to navigate. The servants tasked with its upkeep kept it free of debris and we didn’t have to walk long to make it to our destination. The closer we got to the peak, the more the looming sense of dread in the pit of my stomach became more prominent, as I was not looking forward to the inevitable monument of male posturing ahead.

Once we reached the peak at the end of the steps, I turned back to look and admire the grand view from the top. I could see the entirety of Torzoa from here and, for a moment, it truly looked like a city full of hopes and dreams hiding the filth and apathy within. Despite that, I was sure it was a more appealing sight then what awaited behind me.

The peak of the mountain had been mined and dug completely away with the remainder left flat and leveled off to make space for the construction of the temple, which was designed to replace the top of the mountain. The temple itself was massive, at least fifty feet tall, if not more. It reminded me of one of the ancient Roman temples on Earth, with several smooth columns supporting its arched roof all the way around it. From its appearance, the construction materials probably came from the mining and recycling of the destroyed mountain peak we now stood on. Everything was a polished grey and was well maintained and cared for.

There were a dozen steps leading up to the entrance, one for each of the Gods, Chad explained, even the Gods of Darkness. I asked about a step for the Goddess and got an angry shushing for my efforts. The entrance to the temple itself was past the columns and opened into a large space. The walls were lit with mounted torches and chandeliers, much like inside the castle, and there were artist depictions of the Gods of Light everywhere.

At the back of the space was a statue that stretched from floor to the ceiling high above. It was a depiction of a man, most likely Obarith himself. He was portrayed in a confident stance, legs shoulder width apart. He was naked save for a towel or cloth sash covering his waist area. The rest of him was envisioned with carefully sculpted muscles. He had a head of long, flowing hair and was clean shaven, jawline and chin sharp enough to cut glass. He was flexing with his left arm in a power pose and kissing his own bicep. With his right hand, he was pinching his left nipple teasingly.

I was appalled at the representation of this, their most powerful and revered God. But remembering what my recent exposure to his descendant, humanity’s own King, had been like, I realized I shouldn’t have been surprised. This was basically just King Chadwick, or Chad himself, in an unadulterated monstrous form. The more I thought about it, the more I was positive that Chad had kissed his own bicep at one point in time.

I facepalmed with both hands and closed my eyes in exasperation.

“Okay, I saw the temple. We can go now right, Chad?”

Chad didn’t respond. He had walked ahead of the group and was looking up at the statue.

“Hey, Chad! Eitania to Chad!” I walked up to him and shook his shoulder. I knew he’d had a hard day, but had he finally snapped? Or maybe he passed out standing up?

After a moment, he finally answered me, “I keep going back and forth on how much I like this representation of myself.”

I paused for a moment. Was he so delusional he had mistaken this statue as a dedication to himself? I glanced over at Max, who had moved to Chad’s other side. Max gave me a shrug while mouthing, “I have no idea.”

Finally, Chad turned to acknowledge my attempts to get his attention.

Only his eyes were pure white.

“What do you think? Too much?” He waved at the statue.

I couldn’t answer. I was still stuck gazing into his now empty eyes. All the color had vanished, and they had an eerie quality to them.

Chad’s head nodded in acknowledgement of my silence. “Yeah, I thought so.” The white eyes turned back to admire the statue. “I keep going back and forth on the nipple tweak myself. Also, I should probably clarify things and say that I am no longer your prince, Chadwick.” He grinned, and it was weird to see the Chaddington smile combined with the empty gaze.

“Many in this realm know me as Obarith,” and the soulless eyes turned back to me, “But you may call me ‘Father’.”